IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

Charles Sobhraj Had A Chequered Career As A Criminal In India

By Harihar Swarup

Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj had already acquired international notoriety when he drugged and robbed a group of French tourists, and killed one of them, in Delhi in June, 1986. He had already served his 10-year sentence when he escaped Tihar jail on March 16, 1986. His arrest 22 days later and further incarceration only helped him evade a much worse fate in Thailand. He had already been granted bail by the Delhi High Court in 1989 but managed to stay in Tihar jail till 1997, ensuring the lapse of the warrant for murder in Thailand that carried capital punishment.

These are only the Indian examples in the conman’s sparking and notorious career of evading and manipulating criminal justice jurisdictions in a sting of countries, which hold out lessons for the authorities, law enforcement agencies and the citizen from India’s best protected jail in 1886. It was clear from our investigation at the outset that he planned the elaborate escape, not with the intention of escaping the country, but to forestall the threat of extradition to Thailand, where he may have been hanged due to pending charges for the murder of two tourists. Equally striking was the complete subversion of legal processes inside the Tihar jail that he effected for more than a decade, a revelation that led to an overhaul of prison laws and oversight.

His second act of manipulation came in 1989 when, a Delhi court granted him bail on pending charges of abduction, cheating and murder.  He refused to deposit the surety of Rs, 50,000 for years, ensuring that he could play for time and wait for charges against him in multiple countries to lapse.

By 1995, the twenty-year warrant in Thailand issued through Interpol had expired.  Indian law clearly states that “a prisoner is kept in jail or judicial custody against the warrant (warrants) issued by any court with respect to the criminal case (s)” pending against the person issued by the respective court (s)”. After 1995, a time came when no warrants were pending against him within the country. Yet, by leveraging the delayed furnishing of the bail surety amount, Sobhraj continued to extend his stay in Tihar.

In 1997, the government finally outwitted him. The centre exercised its powers to deport him to France using an archaic and little known colonial law. The Bengal and Bombay Prisoners Regulation Act(s) of 1817 and 1819 — when read with criminal justice statues such as the Indian Penal code, Indian Police act 1861, and relevant procedural and evidence laws— provided for “any person to be placed under person restraint as a state Prisoner, against whom there was not sufficient ground to institute any judicial proceedings, or such proceeding may not be adapted to the nature of case, or may for other reasons be unadvisable or improper”. The government declared him a state prisoner and pushed his deportation through. (IPA Service)

Politics

AAP to contest all seats in MP assembly elections

February 5, 2023
Politics

New turn in UP’s OBC politics as Maurya backs caste census

February 5, 2023
Happening Now

Video shows Chinese balloon being downed by US missile

February 5, 2023
Politics

Assam CM says child marriage crackdown to continue

February 5, 2023
IPA Special

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

2023-24 Budget Keeps Key Issues Of Indian Workers Unaddressed

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Modi Baiter Trinamool Spokesperson Saket Gokhale Is In ED Net

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Israelis And Palestinians Do What They Do Best, But For Wrong Reasons

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

‘Let It Be Morning,’ A Stunningly Powerful Almost All-Palestinian Israeli Film

February 4, 2023
Happening Now

RBI says banking sector stable amid Adani stocks rout

February 4, 2023
Politics

Cong opposes private member’s bill against worship places law

February 4, 2023
Politics

Cong blasts ‘arm-chair liberals’ for criticising yatra

February 4, 2023
Politics

No plan for remote voting machines, clarifies govt

February 4, 2023
Politics

Chidambaram attacks govt’s anti-minority policy

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

BJP May Lose Power In Two Out Of Three North Eastern States After Assembly Polls

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Modi 2’s Last Full Budget Ignores Indian Economy’s Basic Problem

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Enforcement Directorate Is An Ally Of Modi Govt Against Opposition Parties

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Deceptions In Plenty In The Union Budget 2023-24

February 3, 2023

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

February 4, 2023 4:27 pm | IPA Staff

By Harihar Swarup Since his 3,506-km Bharat Jodo Yatra ended on January 30 in Srinagar, it is time to assess its impact. Rahul Gandhi has...

IPA Special

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

February 4, 2023 4:25 pm | IPA Staff

By K Raveendran With China slowly reopening after it abandoned the zero-Covid policy, global markets are bracing up for an industrial inflation, denoting higher industrial...

IPA Special

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

February 4, 2023 4:24 pm | IPA Staff

By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has become a nauseatingly unredeemable tale of rejection and rebuff for Kerala. True to pattern, the State has once again...

IPA Special

2023-24 Budget Keeps Key Issues Of Indian Workers Unaddressed

February 4, 2023 4:23 pm | IPA Staff

By Dr K R Shyam Sundar The Economic Survey (ES) 2022-23 prepared the ground for the focus points in the Union Budget 2023-24 presented on...

IPA Special

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  
Follow us on
Up Next: New AI Technology Threatens Thousands Of More Entry-Level Jobs
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets